This file is a two-year longitudinal file derived from the respondents to the MEPS Panel 21 sample. The persons on this data set represent those who were in the MEPS population (U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized) for all or part of the 2016-2017 period. The file contains a longitudinal weight variable (LONGWT) and all variables from the 2016 and 2017 full-year consolidated data files (HC-192 and HC-201, respectively). The weight variable (LONGWT), when applied to the persons who participated in both 2016 and 2017, will enable the user to make national estimates of person-level changes in selected variables (e.g., health insurance, health status, utilization and expenditures). In addition, LONGWT can be used to develop cross-sectional type estimates for the two-year period and for each year individually based on only the Panel 21 sample.

*The PDF version of the codebook is recommended for printing; the HTML version is database driven and lets you navigate quickly to details on each variable. **Right-click on the data file link, then select Save Target As or Save Link As to download the file.